membranes lipids and signalling Flashcards
who described the fluid mosaic model?
1972 Singer and Nicholson
what do lipids spontaneously form?
bilayers
which part protrudes into the aqueous phase?
hydrophilic head groups
what are glycerophopholipids derived from?
glycerol-3-phosphate
what are glycerophopholipids?
major class of membrane lipids
what are lipid rafts?
where the average composition of a patch of the membrane is different from the bulk composition.
contain more sphingomyelin and cholesterol
what are glycerophopholipids?
major class of membrane lipids
what are lipid rafts?
where the average composition of a patch of the membrane is different from the bulk composition.
contain more sphingomyelin and cholesterol
how many fatty acid tails do glycerophopholipids have?
2
give two examples of fat that give rise to fatty acid tails.
palmitate, stearate
why do fatty acid tail have an even number of carbons?
made by stepwise addition of the two carbon molecule acetate onto growing fatty acid chains. The acetate is presented to the reaction on the carrier molecule Coenzyme A
if a tail has no double bonds what is it called?
saturated
give examples of headgroups of glycerophopholipids.
water, ethanolamine, choline, serine, glycerol, myo-inositol
name the three types of movement possible within a membrane.
lateral diffusion, rotation, transverse diffusion (flip-flop)
how is asymmetry of the membrane produced?
translocase enzymes which can flip phospholipids across the membrane in an energy dependent fashion
what do scramblase enzymes do?
randomise the normal membrane distribution of headgroups and undo the work of the translocases
when are scramblase enzymes activated?
very special circumstances such as when a platelet is activated, when a sperm fertilises an egg, or when a cell commits suicide by apoptosis.
when are scramblase enzymes activated?
very special circumstances such as when a platelet is activated, when a sperm fertilises an egg, or when a cell commits suicide by apoptosis.
what does exposure of phosphatedylserine allow?
interaction with blood clotting factors on the surface of the platelet and this can trigger the onset of blood coagulation
how is PS involved in the apoptotic cell cycle?
eat me signals
how does a cis double bond affect the chain?
produces a kink in the chain which takes up more space and results in a more fluid membrane
what do desaturases do?
introducing double bonds into fatty acids
how many different desaturases are there?
4
why do we need a supply of alpha linolenic acid and linoleic acid in our diet?
desaturases can only desaturate in certain places
what is different about sphingolipids?
sphingosine molecule as their backbone, not glycerol
always a choline head group
1 fatty acid tail is always palmitate
what does cholesterol do in the membrane?
interaction of the rigid cholesterol ring structure with acyl chains in the membrane decreases membrane fluidity at 37oC.
what does the interaction between cholesterol and sphingomyelin cause?
generation of rafts in the membrane
Different membrane proteins prefer to be anchored inside of the rafts to those that like to be anchored outside the raft
name one specific function of the rafts?
membranes can form caveolae and invaginate, which is one way that certain viruses can be internalized into cells.
what are gangliosides?
family of membrane sphingolipids that are particularly abundant in the brain. They have sugar groups attached to the sphingosine
where are glycolipids situated in the membrane?
very hydrophilic sugar groups exposed on the outer face of the plasma membrane
how are glycolipids formed?
sugars are attached to proteins (glycoproteins) and to gangliosides in the endoplasmic reticulum
bud off the ER and then travel to the Golgi apparatus where further sugar residues are added to make the branched antenna structures
reinternalized during endocytosis and vesicles fuse with lysosomes where some of the sugar tree is trimmed back
what other structure can phospholipids form and why is this important?
The storage lipids triacylglycerols (also called triglycerides) and cholesterol esters don’t form membranes. Instead they can pack into the inside of structures with one layer of phospholipids.
what other structure can phospholipids form and why is this important?
The storage lipids triacylglycerols (also called triglycerides) and cholesterol esters don’t form membranes. Instead they can pack into the inside of structures with one layer of phospholipids.
define dementia.
describes a serious deterioration in mental functions, such as memory, language, orientation and judgement
what is the most common cause of dementia?
alzheimers
what are the clinical features of Alzheimers?
amnesia, aphasia, agnosia, apraxia, viseospacial difficulties, mood disorders
what are senile plaques?
consist mainly of the short amyloid-beta (Abeta) peptide. This peptide is derived from the larger membrane bound amyloid precursor protein (APP)
what is associated with the biological process of Alzheimers?
lipid rafts in which sphingomyelin, glycolpids, cholesterol and certain membrane proteins cluster
what does APP stand for?
amyloid precursor protein
what are the three types of membrane protein?
Integral (intrinsic) membrane protein
Lipid-linked membrane protein
Peripheral (extrinsic) membrane protein
integral membrane proteins - go.
span the membrane with single or multiple transmembrane (TM) segments
interact with fatty acid chains in hydrophobic interior of bilayer
TM regions made up predominantly of amino acids with hydrophobic side chains
can only be solubilised by disrupting the membrane with organic solvents or detergents
how many TM domains does Glycophorin A have?
1
how many TM domains does Glycophorin A have?
1
what is prenylation?
addition of hydrophobic molecules to a protein or chemical compound
facilitate attachment to cell membranes,
what is a type of prenylation?
Farnesylation is a type of prenylation, a post-translational modification of proteins by which an isoprenyl group is added to a cysteine residue
what is palmitoylation?
Palmitoylation is the covalent attachment of fatty acids, to cysteine
enhances the hydrophobicity of proteins and contributes to their membrane association
what do peripheral proteins interact with?
Do not interact with hydrophobic core of bilayer
Interact with lipid headgroups or other proteins
how can peripheral proteins be removed?
high salt solution (ionic strength)
Soluble in aqueous solution
give examples of cytoskeletal proteins.
Spectrins - form 200 nm long filaments
Ankyrin - bridges spectrin and band 3 protein
Actin - joins spectrin filaments
Band 4.1 - stabilises spectrin-actin interaction
what is the role of the cytoskeleton?
important in maintaining shape and rigidity of cell AND in restricting the lateral motion of integral membrane proteins
what is hereditary spherocytosis and elliptocytosis?
Mutations in genes encoding spectrin or ankyrin
Result in abnormally shaped erythrocytes
Degraded more rapidly by spleen
=> anaemia
how is the Abeta peptide formed?
proteolytically cleaved from the
membrane-bound amyloid precursor protein (APP)
how does taking statins reduce risk of alzheimers?
statins lower Ab production in cells
statins alter cholesterol content and hence fluidity of
membrane rafts
why do lipid rafts increase the risk of alzheimers?
processing of APP in the cholesterol-rich lipid rafts produces the toxic amyloid-beta peptide, whereas cleavage of APP in other regions of the membrane preclude the formation of amyloid-beta.
where are sugars located on the membrane?
located almost exclusively on the extracellular face of the membrane.
what are the two ways sugars can be linked to proteins?
O-linked to Ser/Thr
N-linked to Asn—X—Ser/Thr (as long as X is not Pro)
what sugars are O-linked?
often short consisting of 2-5 sugars.
what sugars are N-linked?
usually large branched structures with as many as 30-40 sugar residues
what sugars are N-linked?
usually large branched structures with as many as 30-40 sugar residues
what is the function of carbohydrates in membranes?
stability of proteins
intercellular recognition e.g. blood group antigens (ABO)
why would a pure lipid bilayer not work?
only permeable to H2O, small hydrophobic molecules and small uncharged molecules.
simple diffusion across a membrane - go (3 points)
(non-mediated transport)
small molecule, e.g. O2, CO2, urea.
-no specificity
-rate of diffusion proportional to concentration gradient
facilitated diffusion across a membrane - go (5 points)
occurs down concentration gradient
no energy required
depends on integral membrane proteins
(Carriers, permeases, channels, transporters)
proteins are specific
similar kinetics as enzymes, i.e. is saturable, inhibitable, etc.
what do ion channels allow?
Highly selective rapid and gated passage of anions and cations
what are ion channels essential for?
maintaining osmotic balance
signal transduction
nerve impulses
how is glucose transported into erythrocytes?
. The integral membrane protein the glucose transporter facilitates the movement of the glucose across the plasma membrane.
undergoes transformational change when glucose binds and returns back to normal when glucose is hrough
what are aquaporins needed for?
water channel proteins required for the bulk flow of H2O across cell membranes
what are the two ways active transport can be driven?
ion-driven or ATP-driven
give an example of an ATP driven process.
Na+/K+ ATPase
high [K+], low [Na+] in cell
Na+/K+ gradient:
controls cell volume
nerve and muscle cells electrically excitable
drives active transport of amino acids and sugars
maintained by Na+/K+ ATPase
energy released is used to pump 3 Na+ ions out of the cell and 2 K+ ions into the cell.
give an example of an ATP driven process.
Na+/K+ ATPase
high [K+], low [Na+] in cell
Na+/K+ gradient:
controls cell volume
nerve and muscle cells electrically excitable
drives active transport of amino acids and sugars
maintained by Na+/K+ ATPase
energy released is used to pump 3 Na+ ions out of the cell and 2 K+ ions into the cell.
which are the only ions which are directly coupled with ATP hydrolysis?
only Na+, K+, Ca2+ and H+ transport is directly coupled
to ATP hydrolysis
what other active process moves substrates across?
co-transport - can be symport or antiport
how does digoxin work?
inhibit the Na+/K+ ATPase,
increased concentration of Na+ inside the cell decreased Na+ gradient across the membrane
Na+ gradient required for the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger
leads to an increased concentration of Ca2+ inside the cell.
leads to enhanced strength of heart muscle contraction.
what is the basis of oral rehydration therapy?
the uptake of glucose is critically dependent on the presence of Na+ ions in the lumen of the gut and that as glucose moves into the body it alters the osmotic pressure causing water to follow